Please remember to follow the manual of style and code of conduct at all times.
Check the Bulbagarden home page for up-to-date Pokémon news and discuss it on the forums or in the Bulbagarden Discord server.

Contact

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Revision as of 12:05, 16 May 2014 by Eridanus (talk | contribs) (AncientPower is a unique case.)
Jump to navigationJump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Contact or direct attack is a term used to describe the condition when one Pokémon in a battle physically touches the opponent in order to deal damage with a move.

Contact is distinct from whether a move is physical or special in nature, but most moves that make contact are physical moves, while most special moves do not make contact; status moves do not make contact in any case.

The use of contact-based moves can trigger various Abilities of the foe, such as Cute Charm and Effect Spore. It can also trigger certain items, and can be used to spread Pokérus.

Hitting a substitute does not make contact with the Pokémon behind it.

Note that AncientPower makes contact in Generation III only.

List of physical moves that do not make contact

These are physical moves that do not make contact. (This does not include moves such as Hyper Beam, which belonged to physical-based types before Generation IV reclassified them as special.)

Move Type
Attack Order  Bug  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Barrage  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Beat Up  Dark  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Bonemerang  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Bone Club  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Bone Rush  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Bulldoze  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Bullet Seed  Grass  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Earthquake  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Egg Bomb  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Explosion  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Feint  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Fissure  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Fling  Dark  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Freeze Shock  Ice  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Fusion Bolt  Electric  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Gear Grind  Steel  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Gunk Shot  Poison  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Ice Shard  Ice  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Icicle Crash  Ice  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Icicle Spear  Ice  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Magnet Bomb  Steel  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Magnitude  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Metal Burst  Steel  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Natural Gift  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Pay Day  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Poison Sting  Poison  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Pin Missile  Bug  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Present  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Psycho Cut  Psychic  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Razor Leaf  Grass  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Rock Blast  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Rock Slide  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Rock Throw  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Rock Tomb  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Rock Wrecker  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Sacred Fire  Fire  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Sand Tomb  Ground  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Secret Power  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Seed Bomb  Grass  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Self-Destruct  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Sky Attack  Flying  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Spike Cannon  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Smack Down  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Stone Edge  Rock  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Twineedle  Bug  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}

Also, while confusion damage is physical, it does not make contact.

List of special moves that make contact

These are special moves that do make contact. (This does not include moves such as Fire Punch, which belonged to special-based types before Generation IV reclassified them as physical.)

Move Type
Draining Kiss  Fairy  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Final Gambit  Fighting  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Grass Knot  Grass  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Infestation  Bug  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Petal Dance  Grass  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Trump Card  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}
Wring Out  Normal  {{{3}}} {{{4}}} {{{5}}} {{{6}}}

Effects involving contact

Moves

Name Effect
King's Shield Decreases an attacker's Attack two stages if it used a contact move on the defending Pokémon.
Spiky Shield Damages an attacker for 1/8 of its max HP if it used a contact move on the defending Pokémon.

Abilities

Name Effect
Aftermath An attacker loses 1/4 of its max HP if the Pokémon with this Ability faints.
Cute Charm Has a 30% chance of infatuating an attacker on contact.
Effect Spore Has a 30% chance of inducing one of poison, paralysis, or sleep in an attacker on contact.
Flame Body Has a 30% chance of burning an attacker on contact.
Gooey Lowers an attacker's Speed by one stage on contact.
Iron Barbs Damages an attacker for 1/8 of its max HP on contact.
Mummy Replaces an attacker's Ability with Mummy on contact.
Pickpocket Steals an attacker's held item on contact if the defending Pokémon has none.
Poison Point Has a 30% chance of poisoning an attacker on contact.
Poison Touch Each hit from a contact move from a Pokémon with this Ability has a 30% chance (20% chance in the Japanese versions of Black and White) of poisoning the target.
Rough Skin Damages an attacker for 1/8 of its max HP (1/16 of its max HP in Generation III) on contact.
Static Has a 30% chance of paralyzing an attacker on contact.
Tough Claws Boosts the power of contact moves used by this Pokémon by 33%.

Items

Name Effect
Bag Rocky Helmet Sprite.png Rocky Helmet Damages an attacker for 1/6 of its max HP on contact.
Bag Sticky Barb Sprite.png Sticky Barb Damages the holder each turn for 1/8 of their max HP. Transfers to an attacker on contact.

Trivia

  • In Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness, battle animations for contact moves do not show the attacking Pokémon hitting the defending one at all. As in the Stadium series, physical blows usually utilize quick camera cuts between the attacking and defending Pokémon to imply direct contact.

See also

Project Games logo.png This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.
Retrieved from "https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/w/index.php?title=Contact&oldid=2119528"